Scott Welch accumulated. He bought golf carts and landscaped extravagantly and turned a modest ranch house into a striking estate. He had a log cabin playhouse built for his children and a pier built for his speedboat. And all of it was not terribly notable for a Wachovia executive in the midst of the Charlotte banking boom ... Welch himself seemed unremarkable - quiet and well-liked by most neighbors and colleagues, a family man who took his children to sporting events around Mooresville and
CHARLOTTE -- Moments after the Carolina Panthers selected South Carolina's Eric Norwood in the fourth round of the NFL draft in April, a text arrived from Panthers' cornerback Captain Munnerlyn ... "Great pick," Munnerlyn wrote to The Observer. "That's my boy." ... Thanks to Munnerlyn, former college teammate Norwood is no stranger to Bank of America Stadium ... Munnerlyn, a 2009 seventh-round pick, had a surprisingly strong rookie season and provided tickets for Norwood to come to some games
If I were Raymond Felton, I'd wonder if I missed the boat ... That boat may have left last summer. It's when the Charlotte Bobcats offered about $6 million a season in a long-term contract, and he instead chose to play under the one-year qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent next month ... Felton played well in the regular season and poorly in the playoffs against Orlando's Jameer Nelson. I'd heard the Bobcats may have cooled on Felton, and then general manager Rod Higgins
Mallard Creek junior Mikal Hill, who committed to South Carolina before his sophomore year, is the 2010 All-Observer player of the year ... The Observer annually names all-star teams for its entire 125-school coverage area in North and South Carolina (All-Observer) plus area teams in Mecklenburg County (All-Mecklenburg) and its coverage area outside Mecklenburg (All-Region) ... Hill is also player of the year in Mecklenburg County ... A 5-foot-10 shortstop, Hill hit .566 with seven home runs, 39
In North Carolina's last statewide runoff, in 2008, fewer than 2 percent of voters went to the polls ... Turnout in Mecklenburg County was so low - half of 1 percent - that each vote cost taxpayers $121 ... Now a fraction of N.C. voters will return to the polls on June 22 to nominate candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and other races. The elections will cost as much as $5 million ... Are they worth it? ... "It seems to me it's pretty hard to justify runoffs given the very low voter
They’re coming – thousands of NASCAR fans and celebrities on Tuesday; one of the nation’s biggest conventions and more celebrities Friday through Sunday; and a major swim event, with an Olympic hero and international media, from Thursday through Sunday ... And most of this happens in three-block area of central Charlotte ... A few years ago, that might have been a recipe for traffic gridlock ... “But not any more,” said Moira Quinn, CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners. “We’re
Charlotte's Bob Lawing - who helped keep order on the football fields and basketball courts of the Carolinas and throughout the country - died Thursday of cancer ... Lawing, 58, was a former football and basketball referee in the ACC who had been an NFL official since 1997. He also worked for his family's T.R. Lawing Realty Inc ... As a student at East Mecklenburg High, Lawing began officiating when he was 14 in the Myers Park Trinity Little League program ... After graduating from N.C. State,
The North Carolina State Bar on Monday suspended state Rep. Nick Mackeys law license in a case the bar described as involving "acts of dishonesty," "a pattern of misconduct" and circumstances reflecting Mackeys "lack of honesty, trustworthiness, or integrity." ... Mackey, whose district covers parts of north central and eastern Mecklenburg, will lose his license for three years, though he can petition to get it back under certain conditions after one year. The suspension was part of a